


Difference in the World

by SoulSurvivor_36



Series: The Lives We Make for Ourselves [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 13:28:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6659917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoulSurvivor_36/pseuds/SoulSurvivor_36
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Delilah reads about a strange death in the newspaper, she decides to go on location in order to continue her research into the supernatural.  There she crosses paths with the Winchesters once more and they pool their resources to take down the monster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Difference in the World

**Author's Note:**

> This fic follows the events of episode 9.05 Dog Dean Afternoon from the OFC's POV. I used some of the dialogue from the show, and gave some of the boys' lines to Delilah (sorry!)
> 
> No season spoilers, only a monster of the week episode :)
> 
> The lyrics at the end and the title of the story come from Styx' Difference in the world. You can listen to the song here:  
> https://youtu.be/LVj_qWPziBo

Delilah’s heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest.  She retreated behind the corner of the building on the edge of the parking lot by the taxidermist’s shop.  She had just seen, parked out front, the black Impala she knew belonged to the Winchesters, she could recognize that car anywhere.

Life had become very different for Delilah since she first crossed paths with the two brothers. Ever since she was introduced to the supernatural world, by first being nabbed by vampires then saved by the two hunters, she had immersed herself into it.  At first, it was just harmless research; linking mysterious deaths in the papers with the various myths she had studied in college through her history degree.  She had become slightly obsessed with finding the supernatural clues that would connect the dots between what the newspapers reported, and what the stories told in her books.  The worldwide meteor shower a couple weeks back had been a real stumper, she still had no idea what that was.

She had borrowed every single book on supernatural beings, as well as myths and legends, that she could find in the various libraries.  She even returned to Kansas U in Lawrence, her Alma Mater, to ask questions of some of her profs.  But that was mostly a dead end, as soon as she started suggesting that some of the myths were actually true, she just got laughed out of the office and sent home.

For all her research, she had yet to encounter another supernatural creature since the vampires.  Frustrated by the limited resources for her research, she started to think that maybe, she should just go have a look next time something odd popped up in the papers.

An opportunity showed up just barely a week later when she came across an article about a strange death in Enid, Oklahoma.  A man had been found that morning turned into a human pretzel, all joints dislocated and all bones broken.  She quickly threw some clothes and supplies into her messenger bag and jumped into her Rust Bucket Tercel heading southbound to Enid.  It being Sunday she wasn’t worried about work, and she could always call in sick tomorrow if she had to, not like they would miss her anyways.

The whole three hour drive down she wondered about how she could get more information; she was going to have a look at the paper, see if she could talk to the reporter who wrote the article, maybe she would try and get a peak at the taxidermist’s store but she figured it would be crawling with cops and she had no idea how she’d get access.  Maybe she would find a clue that could point her to the next lead.

She had not expected to bump into the Winchesters.  As she kept an eye on the taxidermist’s store, waiting for the owners of the car to come out, she wondered if seeing them again was a good thing.  She certainly never expected to see them again after that night, yet here they were.  Should she go talk to them? Certainly if anyone could answer her questions it would be them.  Then again, why would they give her the time of day? They probably didn't even remember her.

As she was thinking about her next move, the door to the shop opened and out came Dean Winchester followed closely by the tall Sam.  Both of them were wearing suits, which surprised Delilah, somehow she hadn’t pictured them as suit people.  Last time she saw them they were in jeans and plaid.

She watched them get into the car and drive away.  Delilah briefly considered getting into her Tercel and following them, but then decided to see if she could get a closer look at the scene.  She casually walked up to the store front.  She didn’t dare try to go inside the store but something in the window caught her attention.  She had seen the words “die scum” spray painted in red from her earlier spying but she hadn’t seen the logo wiped into it.  It was a paw print inside an upside down triangle.  She quickly snapped a picture of it with her phone.  Just then a police officer pushed open the door to the store and Delilah turned in the opposite direction and walked away, praying that they saw her as nothing but a nosey local walking around.  She made it to the corner without anyone calling out to her and she started breathing again, her heart pounding out of her chest once more.  This on the spot researching was nerve racking!  Books and internet were most definitely the way to go.

She double backed to her car a little while later and drove to a local coffee shop with wifi.  She sat and sipped at her hot chocolate while she searched the internet on her tablet for the symbol in the window.  It didn’t take her long to find it and the S.N.A.R.T. website.  It was an animal rights group right in Enid.  She found out that the co-founders owned a vegan bakery just a few blocks away, so she gulped down the rest of her cocoa, left a few bills on the table, grabbed her sling bag and walked out.

She pushed open the door to the Gentle Earth bakery and looked around.  Everything looked so normal, but then, she had no idea what to look out for.  She decided to sit down at a table and pull out a book, as a pretext to observe the goings on of the place.  She slouched low in her chair and held the book just under her eyes so she could see the whole bakery.  She wasn’t all that surprised when just a few minutes later the suited Winchesters walked in and looked around.

“What’s that smell?” asked Sam, sniffing the air.

“Patchouli. Yeah, mixed with depression from meat deprivation,” Dean answered sarcastically.

Delilah snorted a little louder than she thought and had to duck behind her book as Sam looked around the little bakery casually.  Luckily, the place was just this side of crowded, so she didn’t think he had spotted her.  They walked over to the counter and spoke to the two sunglass wearing employees.  Sadly, the Winchesters had their backs to her so she couldn’t hear what they were saying anymore.  She thought about moving closer but she figured she was already pushing her luck as it was.  She saw Sam reach into his inside jacket pocket and pull out something Delilah couldn’t see clearly, Dean followed suit and they flipped open whatever it was and put them back in their pockets…  _Were those badges??  Is that how they got access to the crime scene?_

Delilah sat in awe at the complexities of being a hunter.  How would she ever pull that off?  They weren’t even breaking a sweat!  She was far from being a natural born liar that’s for sure.

Sam, Dean and the two employees moved to sit at one of the tables across the room from Delilah.  Again she couldn’t hear, so she got up from her table with her book and bag, made her way to the counter, ordered a flaxseed scone and headed over to a free table just behind the Winchesters, certain they wouldn’t pay attention to just another vegan patron of the bakery.  She opened her book again and pretended to read as she listened in on the conversation.

She listened, enthralled, as the two, the co-founders it turns out, went over what happened the night before as they were spray painting the store front.  Delilah perked her ears as they described the hissing noise that startled them and the ensuing mace attack in the alley.

Sam and Dean finished their interview of the couple and sent them on their way.  Delilah was ready to zoom back out of the bakery, back to the wifi enabled coffee shop to do some more research, when she felt someone’s hand on her shoulder.  She froze like a startled rabbit as she heard Dean’s voice close to her ear.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Somehow his quiet gravelly voice terrified her to her core and she had a hard time answering.  _How did he do that?_

She looked up as Sam walked out from behind and stood across the table from her.  He frowned, a startled expression running across his face as he recognized her. “Delilah?”  Dean walked into her line of sight as well and rolled his eyes annoyed.  “What the hell?” He said it like a swear and Delilah shrank back into her seat, searching for the words to explain herself.

“I saw the article in the paper and I dunno, I thought maybe I could figure out what was going on, I knew it wasn’t vamp…” Dean cut her off with an intense glare and she shut up.

“Not here ok?” he looked around to see if anybody had tuned in to the conversation, “Come with us.  We need to have a talk.”

Delilah glanced over at Sam who was looking at her with an unreadable expression.  She shoved her book into her messenger bag, got up from the table, leaving behind the uneaten scone and walked out the bakery closely followed by the brothers.  They piled into the Impala, Sam holding the back passenger door for her, and drove away in silence.

They pulled up a few minutes later to the Diamond Tim’s Motor Inn and Delilah followed the boys into one of the motel rooms.  The décor was absolutely horrid, all green walls and accents with engravings of pouncing panthers over the two beds.  There was a small table and a few chairs as well as a small kitchen counter in one corner.  A couple of duffel bags were sitting on the floor by the beds and Dean grabbed one and headed into the washroom at the back.  Sam sat down at the table and flipped open his laptop to boot it up.  Unsure what to do, Delilah unslung her messenger bag and put it down on the floor by the first bed and sat down.  She fidgeted with a small tear in her dark wash jeans as she waited for someone to say something.

Dean came back out of the washroom wearing jeans and a brown and yellow plaid shirt open over a brown t-shirt.  He hung up his suit and dropped the duffel bag back on the ground.  Sam moved into the bathroom next and came back out dressed similarly, only his shirt was grey and red and buttoned up.

The brothers sat at the table and gestured to Delilah to join them.  She took a deep breath and went to sit on the third chair.

“Ok, talk.  You mind explaining to us what you think you’re doing here?” Dean asked her harshly.  Delilah glared at him, anger bubbling under her skin like it did last time she had to confront him… Something about him just made her so mad.

“The same thing you are, it looks like,” she answered.

“Yeah? And what exactly do you think that is?”

“Hunting!” Dean scoffed and Sam looked bewildered.

“You can’t be serious, no offence but, you hardly look the type to be a hunter,” Sam replied.

She certainly couldn’t argue with that.  At 5’4” and 135 pounds she certainly didn’t have the build advantage of the two brothers, and she certainly spent more time reading than body building, but she could handle herself.  She’d been taking Aikido classes since she was 12 and her father decided she needed to know how to defend herself.  She’d taken down guys the size of Dean a million times in class.  Still, that was class.  She looked down at her lap, her long chestnut brown hair falling forward in her face.  She played with the bottom edge of her black t-shirt feeling a little embarrassed.

“Well I wasn't planning on actually confronting any monsters or anything.  It’s more a curiosity thing.  I hit a dead end with my research and I wanted to come see what I could find out on location.”  Delilah finished her explanation and looked up at Sam and Dean as they exchanged looks from across the small table.  Dean sighed and passed his hand over his face before speaking again in a gentler tone.

“Look, you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.  This stuff is not something you want to be involved with.  You’re better off going back to your regular life, with your regular job and forget about all of this.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Delilah asked him pointedly, “My life was as ordinary and boring as can be, soul crushing some might say.  And then I got kidnapped by vampires!  Something I’ve been told wasn't real. And then I started looking into things more closely and within a month I found evidence of the existence of not only vampires, but werewolves, ghosts, witchcraft and even what I think might be a rugaru!  So you tell me how I’m supposed to forget about all this stuff and go back to my boring old life.”

She was practically vibrating from all the pent up anger but it all just washed out of her as she looked up at Dean who was smiling widely at her.  His tone was disbelieving as he said, “You seriously found a rugaru?”

“Yeah, well I think so.  They’re not much different from werewolves in the lore you know, except for the whole eating the heart thing, rugarus don’t care, they just eat everything.”

Sam and Dean sat back looking absolutely amazed.  Delilah pleaded with them,  “Please don’t send me away.  I swear I can help out with this.  I’m really good at research, just give me a chance, you’ll see.”  Dean rubbed the back of his short cropped hair, thinking.

“Well, alright, I guess you can stick around for a bit.  But it’s just this once.  This stuff is dangerous, I don’t want to see you popping up alone in random places for hunts, you’re just going to get yourself killed.”

Delilah lit up like a Christmas tree she was so happy.  They were going to let her help!  And maybe she’d be able to clear up some of the things she had discovered.

Sitting at the table, Sam on his laptop, Dean beer in hand, they discussed the details of the case so far.  They figured out that the S.N.A.R.T. people couldn’t have gotten their eyes damaged the way they had with just regular mace.  Sam figured it might have been venom.  Paired with the taxidermist being crushed to death, Dean figures something snake-like could be involved, which fit with the hissing noise the Camroses heard.  Delilah pointed out that snakes don’t both constrict and envenomate though.

“It could be a vetala,” suggested Sam.

“Vetalas?  Those are a thing?” asked Delilah.

“Everything’s a thing, mostly,” Dean replied.

“Huh, so Hindu vampires.  Why do you think they’re related to snakes?” she asked.  Sam leaned forward and explained.

“Well, unlike vampires, they have venom they use to incapacitate their prey.” Dean chuckled and took a sip of his beer.

“Yeah, Sammy has first hand experience with that.”  Sam scowled at his brother but Dean continued, “Anyways, vetalas aren’t afraid to sink their teeth in and the taxidermist was bite free.  Doesn’t really fit the profile.”

“Right, so…”

“So, you call Kevin, see what he can dig up.  I’ll drive ‘Lilah back to her car so she can get settled.  Looks like we’ll need more information before we can figure this one out.  I’ll pick up some grub on the way back.”

Dean stood up and grabbed his blue jacket from behind the chair.  Delilah stood up too and grabbed her messenger bag to sling it across her shoulders.  Sam pulled out his cell phone and punched one of the speed dials.  She just heard him addressing someone on the other end before she stepped out into the fading sun of the late afternoon.  Delilah got into the passenger side of the front seat of the black Impala and Dean got in behind the wheel.  She told him where she had left her car before she got picked up by them at the bakery and they made their way there in companionable silence while Styx played on the radio.

When Dean pulled up in the parking spot next to her car, she got out and dug around her bag for her keys.  The engine of the Impala was rumbling as Dean let it idle while she walked around the back.  She stuck her key in the lock and Dean rolled down the window to talk to her.

“Hey, are you good with burgers or are you more the salad type?”  His eyes glanced down at her body quickly and Delilah arched her eyebrows, did he just check her out?  Trying hard not to blush, she threw out, “Burgers are fine.”  She opened her car door and sat in her Rust Bucket as Dean pulled away with a quirk to his mouth.

Delilah headed back to the motel.  When she got there, the Impala wasn’t back yet, Dean having gone to get dinner.  She walked into the office and checked into a single room a few doors down from Sam and Dean’s room.  She went inside to find the same atrocious  colour scheme in her room as in the boys’ room and shook her head.  It was significantly smaller, containing pretty much just the bed, a dresser and closet, and the door to the washroom in the back.

She decided to wash up before Dean got back with the food.  She threw her messenger bag containing her overnight supplies on the bed and rummaged through it for her bathroom kit.  She carried it into the bathroom and started the shower.  She tied back her long brown hair in a messy bun so it wouldn’t get all wet, no need to be drying it for an hour.  She peeled off her clothes and stepped under the soothing hot water.  As she lathered the soap over her body, she couldn’t help but think about the way Dean’s eyes had wandered, albeit quickly, over her figure.  She wondered idly what he saw when he looked at her.  She certainly couldn’t deny that she liked the look of him and she found herself hoping that maybe he liked the look of her too.

She suddenly had a vivid image in her head of Dean in the shower with her, pressing his naked body up against hers under the running hot water, kissing down her neck, his 5 o’clock shadow scratchy against her soft skin and his hands running up and down her body.

Delilah shook her head, snapping herself out of it.  No time to indulge in that kind of thinking.  She finished rinsing off the remaining soap, turned off the water and wrapped a towel around herself to dry off.  She dug out her black eyeliner to refresh her make up and brushed her teeth.  She brushed out the tangles from her long slightly wavy brown hair and, satisfied with the effect of it falling loosely around her diamond face, she decided to leave it untied.  She wandered back into the room and took out fresh panties from her bag and slipped them on.  She put her jeans back on and quickly tied the bra around herself while looking at the clothes she had thrown into her bag that morning.  Just a couple of t-shirts and a hoodie.  She grabbed one of them at random and zipped her hoodie part of the way over it.  She slipped on a fresh pair of socks over her skinny jeans and stuck her feet back into her Dr. Martens.  Ready for another round of research, she pulled her tablet out of the bag, made sure she had her cell phone and key for the motel and headed back out to the boys’ room.

The first thing she noticed was the return of the Impala parked in front of their room’s window.  She slid her hand appreciatively over the hood and let it linger there a moment, admiring the sleek lines of the car.  Then she turned around and knocked on the door to room 10.  She heard a voice from inside tell her it was open, so she turned the handle and walked in.  Dean was in the process of laying out the food on the table.  He stopped when she walked in and looked at her, his green eyes sweeping up her body a moment, before clearing his throat and resuming the pulling out of hamburgers from the bag.  Sam reached into the small refrigerator behind him and pulled out a couple of beers, offering her one,

She took it from him, smiling her appreciation and quickly twisted off the cap and took a large gulp as she sat down at the table.

They spent the evening quietly looking up information that could help them to understand what they were facing.  Some time around 9pm, Sam received a call on his phone.  He told them it was Kevin, but that he hadn’t had any luck finding information about, as Dean put it, “freaky-ass mega-snake monsters”.

By the time 11 rolled around, Delilah was sore from being hunched over her tablet and frustrated that it wasn’t yielding any results.  She decided to turn in so she bid the boys goodnight.  Sam barely acknowledged her, lost as he was, reading something on his computer screen, but she was surprised that Dean stood up.  She was even more surprised to hear him say,

“Lemme walk you out.”

“It’s ok Dean, I’m only a couple doors down, I’m pretty sure I can walk that far without anything bad happening,” Delilah reassured him.

“Hey with a monster on the loose?  I’m not taking any chances, besides you’ve already proved yourself as monster bait, letting yourself get taken by some hitchhiking vamp, you’d probably just get into anybody’s car who waved you over,” he baited her mockingly then closed the door behind him.

“I’m not stupid you know,” she retorted getting riled up again.  This seemed to amuse the handsome devil because he smiled at her.

“No, not stupid, just really naïve,” he continued.  Delilah gasped and stuck her curled fists on her hips.

“I’ll have you know, Dean, that I can take care of myself.” She reached into her pocket and grabbed her room key.

“Is that so?” he said, clearly not taking her seriously.  She opened her motel room door and walked in, Dean following her.

“You want me to prove it Winchester?”  she said as she turned to face him.

A huge smile spread across his face even as his eyebrows shot up incredulously.  He shut the door behind him, shaking his head at her.  When he turned around she was standing with her hands on her hips defiantly.

“Attack me,” she told him confidently.  Dean laughed again.

“Come on ‘Lilah, I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, a note of condescension in his tone.

“Attack me!  Unless you’re too afraid to get beaten by a girl,” she taunted him.

He glared at her but seemed to decide to play along because he slowly moved in on her, focused.  When he was close enough, he reached out with his right hand to grab her by the shirt, but Delilah was already moving, her left arm coming up on the outside and grabbing his wrist before he ever made contact with her.  She stepped right up into his space, placing her right foot to the side, turning her body into his, and hooking her right arm around his neck.  Before Dean knew what was happening he was sprawled out on the motel room floor, Delilah’s foot on his shoulder and her hands twisting his wrist more painfully than he thought possible.

“Gah!  Alright, I give!”

This time Delilah laughed as she released Dean from the hold and let him get to his feet.

“Again?” she asked, baiting him and enjoying the look he threw her way.

“Uh, naw, thanks. I think I’m good.  I’ll just go on back to my room and salvage whatever dignity I have left.”

He headed back towards the door, and Delilah was a little disappointed he was leaving, but it was probably for the best.  Self-defence she could do, seduction though was a whole other ball of wax.  Dean opened the door and stepped out into the cool night air.  He turned to look at her, opened his mouth, but shut it again without saying anything, instead he turned right and headed back to his room.

Delilah closed the door.  She wandered over to the small night stand by the bed and plugged her tablet into its charger.  She took off her jeans and bra and settled under the blankets.  She had a hard time falling asleep, her mind racing with thoughts of snakes, and monsters, and Dean Winchester.

 

The next morning she was woken up early by a knock on her door.  She scrambled into her jeans and peaked out the window to see Sam standing outside wearing a suit again.  She opened the door.

“What’s up?  Did something happen?” she asked.

“Yeah, there’s been another attack, at the animal shelter.  The overnight attendant was found dead this morning,” he told her.

“Was he crushed like the last victim?” she asked again, a frown on her face.

“Not this time it seems.  Dean and I are heading over there now.  It might be best if you stay behind here, see if you can find anything new.  I made a list of a couple things I came across last night.  Maybe you can start there.” He handed her a piece of folded paper.

Delilah took it from him, unfolded it and had a quick look.  At the bottom of the paper was a 10 digit phone number.  She looked up at him questioningly.

“That’s my cell, in case you find anything,” he said, answering her look.

Delilah reached into her jean pocket, pulled out her cell and quickly typed something into a text message box.  She hit send and heard a responding vibration coming from Sam’s pocket.  He frowned, grabbed his phone and looked at the text.  _And here’s mine_ she knew he read.  He nodded to her and gave her a quick smile.  He also handed her his key.

“That’s the key to our room.  You might be more comfortable there to do research.  It’s up to you.”

“Thanks Sam,” she smiled at him, getting a shy smile in return.

“Anyways, gotta go.  We’ll check in later.”

He turned away back towards his room and where the Impala was parked.  She just saw Dean waiting behind the wheel as Sam folded himself into the front seat.  Delilah closed her door and headed back inside to wash and change.

A few minutes later, showered and dressed, she wandered out into the chilly morning air and got into her car.  She drove out to the small café from the day before, bought herself a hot chocolate and a bagel and drove back to the motel.  She opened the door to room 10, trying to not feel like an intruder.

She glanced around quickly at the tidy room, impressed that they bothered making the beds, lord knows she certainly didn’t.  She pulled out a chair from the table and sat herself down, ready to tackle the list Sam had given her.

It was a few hours later that the boys came back arms loaded with supplies in a paper bag and to her immense surprise, a German shepherd on a leash.

“Uh, Ok, don't tell me…  He was just sitting there begging to be adopted, right?” she said, a little mockingly.

“Ha, ha, very funny.  Actually he’s a witness,” Dean replied, untying the leash from the dog’s collar.

The shepherd went straight to Delilah and put his nose in her lap.  She happily gave him a good scratch, crooning at him.  Sam’s face lit up as he caught sight of her petting the dog.  He closed the door behind him and put the bag on the table.  Delilah looked up at him.

“Sorry Sam, I’ve been looking things up all morning and hitting nothing but dead ends on the snake thing. How did it go at the crime scene?  You know, other than adopting a dog.”  Sam looked at her and laughed.

“Yeah, we hit a wall too. The victim at the kennel wasn't killed by a snake,” he told her.

“He wasn’t?  What killed him then?” she asked.  Dean answered for Sam,

“Well, it would seem victim number two was clawed to death.  He had deep gashes in his throat.”  Delilah frowned.

“So what?  Now we have a killer cat on the loose?  Is it usual to have more than one monster running around?”

“No, it’s not. That’s why we brought back the Colonel here.  He’s the taxidermist's dog, and officially the only witness to both murders.”  Delilah stopped petting the dog and looked at Dean dead on.

“If you’re about to tell me that you can talk to dogs…”

Sam started taking things out of the paper bag and setting them down on the table. He’s the one who answered.

“Well not yet, but Kevin dug up an Inuit spell that’s supposed to let us communicate with the Colonel.”

Delilah widened her eyes in surprise.  Apparently anything is possible with the Winchesters.  She was looking forward to meeting this Kevin they kept talking about.  She watched as Sam finished taking the ingredients for the spell out of the bag.  She looked at Dean who had sat down at the other end of the table.  The dog had settled down at her feet and was staying very calm.  Delilah broke the silence.

“An Inuit spell,” she said, hoping for one of them to help her understand what was about to happen.

“ Yeah,” replied Sam as he mixed the ingredients together, “It’s supposed to let us communicate with animals.”

Delilah nodded her head a little sceptically.  Dean continued to explain, “Kevin said it’s sort of a human – animal mind meld.”

“What does that mean?” asked Delilah.

“If it works, we should be able to read the Colonel’s thoughts,” answered Sam as he finished mixing the concoction and poured it out into a glass.  It looked like brown sludge and Delilah stuck her tongue out.

“That looks gross,” she said, eyeing the contents of the glass, “Are you really going to drink that?”  Dean suddenly reached across the table and took the glass away from Sam.

“I’ll do it,” he said, “You’ve got enough on your plate,” he told Sam.  Sam, outraged responded.

“Like what?” Dean sniffed the glass before answering.

“Uh, like… You’re tired, you’re on the mend ok?” he said unconvincingly, “Plus, you’ve got a sensitive stomach.  Last thing we need is you chucking this stuff up.”

Sam scoffed at Dean and Delilah shook her head a little, wondering what they were going on about.  Dean looked down at the contents of the glass. “Doesn’t look so bad.”  With a twist of his head, he knocked back the drink.  Delilah grimaced as he swallowed the sludge then looked at the empty glass and sighed.  “I was wrong.”

He gestured for the paper with the incantation, coughing from the foul liquid.  Sam handed him the notebook and he read the words out loud.  Then he looked right at the dog, lying beside Delilah’s chair and said,

“Alright, let’s get this party started.  Tell me everything you know.”  The dog raised his head and yawned.  Dean chuckled and added, “What’s wrong?  Cat got your tongue?”  He looked up at Sam who was frowning and glanced over at Delilah who was just staring at him with her eyebrows halfway up her forehead.  He looked back down to the dog, “Tough crowd.”  The Colonel lifted his head and barked at Dean.  Delilah and Sam looked at him expectantly, but he just shook his head.

Sam sighed and pulled some burgers out of the other bag he had brought back.  The three of them settled in to have lunch.  Dean switched on the radio by the bed.  Foreigner was playing quietly in the background as they bit into their lunch.  Dean ate his burger like he hadn’t eaten in days.  Sam made a comment about the spell not cutting his appetite, and Dean suggested they call back Kevin and see if he can’t find something else they can try.  Delilah had moved over to one of the beds, resuming her research with the new information about the monster changing animal behaviour.

Suddenly, Dean got really quiet and Delilah looked up from her tablet to see him staring right at the dog.  Sam asked him what was up but Dean waved him off and told him to shut up, because the spell was working.

What followed was probably the strangest thing she ever saw.  Dean proceeded to have a conversation with the dog, but she could only hear his side of it.  When he started raving about Denis DeYoung not being a punk, she and Sam exchanged a look that told her that this was a first for him as well.

The conversation went on with Dean relaying what the dog told him to Sam and Delilah, how the killer had a cowboy hat, but the Colonel couldn’t see what the guy did with the cats that went missing from the shelter.  In the mean time, Dean started exhibiting some odd behaviours.  Sam tried throwing out a bunched up napkin in the trash, but Dean picked it up and gave it back to him.  He also started scratching behind his ear.  Sam threw the napkin again, and again Dean picked it up and gave it back to him.  When Sam asked him what he was doing, he just looked confused and said he didn’t know.

Comprehension dawned on Delilah as she watched Dean and she had to stifle a laugh behind her hand.  Sam and Dean both looked at her questioningly, but just then the Colonel barked at something outside and Dean straightened up and practically threw himself at the window.  He pushed aside the curtains and started yelling at whatever he saw outside, Colonel barking along.

Delilah couldn’t hold back anymore and started laughing whole heartedly as Dean continued to act like a dog.  Sam called him back to the table and pointed out Dean’s dog-like behaviour to him, trying not to laugh at his brother predicament.

Dean came to sit on the bed where Delilah was spread out looking dejected while Sam called Kevin back.  She could not resist.  She sat up and scratched at his head behind his ear, “Aw, what’s wrong boy?  You look a little sad.”  Dean leaned into her hand a split second as he instinctively reacted to her touch, but then pulled away annoyed and frowned.  Delilah chuckled again as Sam hung up the phone and told him that apparently the spell had some side effects and that he could temporarily exhibit some of the animal’s behaviours.

“Well, how long am I gonna have the urge to…” Dean paused staring at the Colonel and then exploded, “Oh! Whoa, I do not have the urge to sniff butts.”  This was too much for Delilah and she started laughing again.  Dean turned on her, “This is not funny, so you can just stop laughing.”

“Well, it is kinda funny… You don’t really have the..” Sam left the sentence unfinished and Dean shot him down right away.  Dean looked at Delilah, she was trying hard to stop laughing as tears rolled down her face.

“You, chuckle head, you can just stay here and continue the research.  Sam and I’ll go back to the animal shelter see if we can’t…” Delilah interrupted Dean breathlessly.

“Sniff out clues?”

Dean’s face fell and he looked more annoyed than ever.  He stood up, grabbed the leash and his blue jacket and walked out the door with the Colonel.  Sam followed suit with a big grin on his face.  “We’ll be back.”

With the boys gone, Delilah finally caught her breath and went back to looking for clues on the world wide web.  The afternoon wore on when she finally found the first bit of information that seemed to fit.  She had stopped focusing on the snake characteristics and started wondering about the claw marks on the second victim.  If they were really only facing one monster, then she had to look for something that could change it’s appearance.  She dove into the lore about the various shape shifters and skin walkers and found some potential leads.  She also thought about what Dean was going through and started wondering if maybe a spell was involved.  She found mention of some magical practices that allowed a shaman to take on certain characteristics of animals by ingesting their organs.

          Just a little past dinner, Sam, Dean and the Colonel came back to the motel room.  Delilah looked up from the table where she was sitting cross legged on a chair.

          “Anything new?” she asked as they shut the door behind them.

          “Yeah, another lead,” Sam told her, “Apparently our guy was carrying a sack with Avant Garde Cuisine on it.  It’s a café on Main St. And get this, he ate one of the cats,”

“Really?  That actually coincides with something I found a little earlier about Shamanism.  Shamans can ingest animal organs to take on some of their attributes,” she told him.

“Alright, great.  We’re going to go have a look at the restaurant.” Dean said, “In the meantime, you stay here.  We have no way of knowing what this guy can do.”

“Hell no!  I’ve been sitting here all day staring at web pages.  I'm coming with you,” she said, determined to stand her ground.

Dean looked to Sam for support, but he just shrugged,

“If she wants to come, I don’t see why not.”

“Well, you’re just being unhelpful,” Dean grumbled then turned back to her, “Do you know how to handle a gun?”

“No,” she said, noting Dean’s exasperated look, “but I know how to use a knife.”

Dean sighed and pulled a knife and sheath out of his duffel bag and handed it to her.  Delilah took it from him and pulled the knife out to look at it.  The blade was a good six inches and serrated on the back.  The handle fit well into her hand and it was reasonably well balanced.  She put the knife back into its leather sheath and clipped it to her belt on her hip.  Dean watched her with a calculating air then said, “Alright, well let’s go then.”

 

They pulled up a few minutes later to the back door of the café.  Sam picked the lock and opened the door, Dean went in first, followed by Delilah and then Sam.

They made their way down the deserted back hallway towards the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, but who can afford to be closed on Monday these days?” Dean muttered to himself.

“A homicidal maniac?” Sam replied.  Delilah spotted a door marked ‘office’.

“Hey guys,” she gestured to the door when they looked her way.

Sam opened the door and pulled out a flashlight.  Dean and Delilah followed along and closed the door.  Dean pulled out his own flashlight and started scanning around the room.  Delilah stayed close to Sam as he searched through some file cabinets and drawers, Dean moved further into the room.  Sam found a stash of pain killers of all types and Dean threw out a line about cooking comfortably numb.

Suddenly, Dean swung around listening for something only he could hear.  Delilah turned on a lamp on the small desk where she sat.  She glanced over at Dean who had uncovered a cage with some mice in it.  He proceeded to have a conversation with them.

“Hey Sam,” Delilah said, Sam made a sound in his throat in reply, clearly preoccupied by whatever he was leafing through, “Can Dean talk to mice too?”

“What?” he asked looking to where Dean was standing, “Oh yeah, it would seem that he can hear all the animals.  You should have seen him earlier, he tried to shoot a pigeon that shat on his car.”

Delilah shook her head bewildered and went back to scanning the contents of the desk.  She found a large, leather bound book in the middle drawer and pulled it out.  She started turning the pages as Dean called out what he saw in the fridge.  Owl brains, cheetah liver, grizzly heart.  Delilah called Sam over to look at the book.

“Looks like we are dealing with a shaman, check this out.”

Sam leaned down over her shoulder and looked at the book.  “A spell book.  Says here whatever organ you ingest along with the right mix of hoodoo and spices, you temporarily gain the power of that animal.”

“Well, that makes sense, how he both constricted the taxidermist and clawed the guy at the shelter right?” Delilah chipped in.

“Looks like he’s been making his own recipes.”  Sam straightened up holding some index cards and read some of the combinations, the chef was coming up with.

Suddenly, they heard a clanging sound coming from down the hall.  Sam reached over and turned off the desk lamp.  By the light of the flashlights, Delilah saw them pulling their guns from the back of their belts and head for the door.  Sam looked back long enough to tell her to hide in a corner until they came to get her and closed the door behind him.  As quietly as she could, Delilah walked over to the back of the room and squeezed herself between a cabinet and the wall, her heart pounding in her chest.

She worked at calming her breathing so she could try to hear what was happening outside of the office.  Minutes ticked by and they felt like hours as Delilah sat alone in the dark.  Then she heard the click of the back door open and footsteps in the hall outside the door.  She held her breath hoping that whoever it was wouldn’t come into the room.  Then she heard a yell and a grunt as clearly two people were fighting it out in the hallway.

She heard a strange accented voice talking about chameleons interspersed with grunts and gasps.

“How the hell did you do that?” the stranger said.

“Do what?” she heard Sam’s strained voice asking, still gasping.

“Screw the sharktopus,” she heard the stranger say, then the sound of a large body hitting the floor, “You’re my main course.”

She heard nothing after that.  Terrified that Sam had gotten himself attacked, and not sure what state he was in, she carefully crept out of her hiding place and tip toed to the door.  She listened very hard for any sounds coming from the hallway and startled as she heard a gunshot ring out followed by the sound of shattering glass.  She eased open the office door and peaked out to see if the coast was clear.  There was no one in the small hallway, but now she could hear the sounds of fighting coming from the kitchen.  She flattened herself against the hallway wall and slowly made her way towards the sounds.  As quickly as they started, the fighting sounds stopped and now she could hear the strange voice talking again.  She held her breath and quietly slid down the wall so she could crouch low by the corner.  With relief, she heard Dean ask about his brother.  If he could talk, and still sound pissed off, it meant he was ok.

She listened as Dean and the Chef talked about cancer.  From the sound of it, Dean was close by and the other one was further into the kitchen.  She chanced a peak around the corner, moving slowly so she wouldn’t draw any attention to herself.  From her vantage point she saw Dean sitting up against a column in the kitchen, his hands tied behind his back.  She could not see the chef or Sam because the counter was blocking her view, but judging by the direction Dean was looking, she guessed they were further in the corner from where she was.  She retreated behind the wall again to formulate a plan.

She heard the chef’s voice nearby again and decided that the next time it moved away she would make her move.

The chef’s voice became muffled and she moved like a coiled spring, the adrenaline pumping through her system.  She ran to the column where Dean was tied and in one quick motion she cut the cord holding him captive.

“Delilah! Get out of here!” he practically growled at her as he jumped to his feet and pulled a cleaver from the wall at head level.  From her position behind the column she could finally see the chef as Dean charged at him with the cleaver.  On the floor by the back wall, she also saw Sam, lying on his back unconscious.

Dean stepped back as the chef straightened up from the attack, bearing sharp teeth and a growing muzzle. Dean retreated running back the way Delilah had come, luring the wolf man away.

As soon as they were gone Delilah rushed over to Sam to check he was still breathing.  She checked his pulse and found that although his neck was all bloody, there was no sign of a wound, everything seemed to be working fine, Sam just needed to wake up. She shook him a little, she clapped her hands over his face and by his ear but still nothing.

Dean found them like that a few minutes later.  He fell to his knees on the ground and took his brother’s face in his hands.  Delilah scooted over to sit on his other side.

“For the love of God Sammy,” Dean said, his voice rough with concern.  He didn’t seem to care that Delilah was there.  He tapped his face, “Hey Sammy…  Zeke.”  He paused and Delilah frowned at him confused, _who was Zeke?_ Dean continued, “Whoever the hell you are.  Hey!  Come on!”  Dean continued to tap Sam’s face, trying to wake him up, “Don’t make me lick your damn face.”

Dean put his hand on his brother’s chest and gave him a shake.  Sam’s eyes finally opened and he grunted, from being shaken.  He took a deep breath and Dean sighed with relief.  Delilah reached out and brushed Sam’s hair out of his face as he first looked at her and then at his brother, both kneeling by him on the floor.

Then, Dean grabbed a handful of Sam’s shirt, put his arm around the back of his shoulders and helped him get up.  The three of them walked out of the restaurant and back into the Impala, parked out back.  Dean whistled through his teeth and opened the back door of the car.  The Colonel came running up, jumping in the back seat next to Delilah.

Dean drove through town to the vegan bakery and disappeared inside with the dog, while Delilah and Sam stayed with the car.  Sam got out and leaned against the side, talking to Delilah through the open window.

“How are you feeling Sam?” she asked him.

“I feel fine, I just can’t stop thinking about what that guy said.” Just then Dean came back from inside.

“Oh come on Sammy.  Guy was out of his freaking gourd,” he told him.

“Yeah, but I mean, why would he ask what I was? It doesn’t make any sense,” he countered, sounding confused.

Delilah looked out the window at Dean and their eyes locked for a moment.  She knew there was something they hadn’t told her, why would Dean call his brother Zeke?  But she was starting to think that maybe whatever she thought they were keeping from her, maybe Dean was also keeping from his brother.  What could possibly be that bad?

Sam and Dean got back inside the car and they drove back to the motel.  Delilah headed to her room and cleared out her stuff, throwing her messenger bag into the back of her Tercel before joining the boys packing up their own stuff into the Impala.  Dean was leaning against the driver’s door, waiting for Sam.  She walked up to him.  She put one hand on the roof of the car and patted it affectionately.  Dean cleared his throat and Delilah turned to lean up against the car next to him.  She reached for her belt and unclipped the hunting knife he had lent her.  She spun the knife in its holder in her hands and then handed it to him handle first.

“Thanks for letting me tag along,” she told him.  He took the knife from her and held it in his hands.

“Well, turns out you’re not completely useless,” he said pushing into her with his shoulder.

“Oh gee! Thanks.”  Delilah rolled her eyes.  Men.

“No really, you did good today,” he said sincerely, looking into her eyes.

Delilah smiled shyly at the compliment and tucked some of her hair behind her ear.  They looked at each other for several heartbeats, until Sam came out the motel door with his duffel bag wearing a fresh shirt.  Dean quickly straightened up and took a few steps away from Delilah, leaving her feeling slightly confused.  Sam came over to her and she straightened up too, just in time to be captured in a bear hug.

“Take care of yourself, Delilah.” He said holding her tight, “You have my number, don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”

“Thanks Sam, that’s sweet,”  she told him.

Sam slipped into the passenger seat as Dean moved closer to her again.

“If I try to hug you, will you twist my arm again?” he asked jokingly.

Delilah laughed, “Well, as long as you don’t make any sudden movements you should be safe.”

Dean gave her a lopsided grin and wrapped his arms around her.  She put her arms up, holding onto the back of his jacket, as she breathed in the best smell in the world: spices, sunshine and a hint of whiskey.  So maybe she held on a little too long, or maybe it was him who held on to her, but when they pulled apart she felt a little colder, and not just because of the night air.

“Don’t go hunting on your own.  I’m serious,” Dean told her looking right into her eyes.

“Ok, Dean.”  She turned away and walked back to her car hanging on to the feeling of being wrapped in Dean’s strong arms.

How in the hell was she supposed to do normal work in the morning when the whole world felt like an open invitation to go on out and explore it?  She turned the key in the ignition and her car came to life.  A strange feeling of satisfaction came over her as she recognized the song playing on the radio.  She allowed a smile to spread on her face, and this time, she felt, it would only be a matter of time before she crossed paths with the Winchesters again.  She cranked the volume on the radio as the lyrics belted out

_So move on out to the top of heap,_

_Don't over think it now,_

_Just take the leap,_

_Are you the wolf or are you the sheep?_

_Are you still asleep?_


End file.
